Cultural wellbeing research and education centre CuWeRE
CuWeRE develops and renews the multidisciplinary field related to creativity, arts, health and wellbeing in Finland. The Centre is focused on advancing the research-basis for the field and quality of higher education.
CuWeRE was established by the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and the University of Jyväskylä in 2023.
CuWeRE focuses on
Developing more meaningful cultural wellbeing field in Finland and beyond.
Conducting research and advancing the quality of (higher) education through research.
Gathering researchers and specialists to international and domestic seminars and conferences.
Education in and through BA, MA, Doctoral studies, CPD-courses.
Strengthening collaboration and analytical use of research-base to support policymaking and collaboration with all stakeholders.
What is Cultural Wellbeing?
What is cultural well-being?
CuWeRE promotes cultural well-being in communities and society from a holistic perspective. By consciously paying attention to the perspectives of creative and artistic activity and expression in everyday life, opportunity is given for new ways of being, community, and experiences of becoming part in something bigger. (Huhtinen-Hildén 2023.)
Cultural wellbeing in society
Sustainable ways of living require finding meaning in life and building well-being on intangible resources. Society needs to invest in trust between people, find ways to bring people together and focus on the meaning of life. In this way, chains leading to exclusions and many types of illbeing can be prevented and a prosperous and communal society can be built. Despite extensive research, the experiential and creative side of people, as well as the well-being and resilience they enable, are often overlooked when making demanding societal decisions. We want to create a multidisciplinary society-permeating cultural well-being field that draws from knowledge and research-based understanding.